Empathy is the ability to see the world through the eyes of another. Highly empathetic persons sense the emotions of those around them, and have the ability to tap into those same emotions within themselves.
Empathy is something we tend to reserve for our personal lives, however, empathy should also be practiced in our professional relationships.
Indeed, business relationships form because of a fundamental trust between you and your network. When you express empathy, you are delivering an experience to people that they’re not just listened to; they’re heard. And because they’re heard, they’re understood. This gives your network a sense of connection and safety directly associated with you, ultimately laying the foundation for them to trust you with their business.
Empathy is a skill, and skills can be learned. In this article are presented 5 tips to develop empathy:
1. (Actively) Listen More Than You Speak
Empathetic persons listen first and only speak after they’ve carefully heard.
2. Express Your Perspective
Put yourself in their shoes, experience the moment as if it were happening to you, and let your emotions guide you.
3. Be Vulnerable
Asking for help shows vulnerability, and vulnerability often leads to that greater sense of connection and relation.
4. Don’t Make Assumptions
When you make an assumption, the understanding you draw is rarely a good match to the problem this person is facing. As a result, the connection you try to make feels forced and unnatural. So don’t rush empathy, and don’t try and empathize before you truly understand the situation.
5. Use Your Imagination
The ability to imagine what someone else is feeling—even if we haven’t experienced it ourselves—is critical to empathy. And one way to develop this skill is to develop your imagination.
Image: Flickr – Kaiwan Teanngam (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)